NOLA House Raiser Facing Fraud Charges

NOLA House Raiser Facing Fraud Charges

The Sheriff's Office in Louisiana's Jefferson Parish has
charged a home elevation contractor with fraud after a
homeowner complained that a job contracted for in May of 2011
had not progressed by December. But an attorney for the company
argues that the contractor, Coastal Shoring LLC, is not to
blame because the state's Office of Community Development,
which manages grant money for government-subsidized building
elevations, has not released money to carry out the work. The
New Orleans Times-Picayune has the story
("
Elevation contractor charged with fraud in Jefferson
Parish," by David Hammer).
"The Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office brought the fraud
charge against Kershenstine based on a criminal complaint filed
by Connie Sue Montgomery, a lawyer who hired Coastal to raise
her home. According to court documents, Coastal received
initial payment from Montgomery and submitted her contract to
the state Office of Community Development for an advance
payment on an elevation grant on May 3, 2011," the
Times-Picayune reports. "When the project didn't
progress by December 2011, Montgomery tried to change
contractors, but Coastal Shoring refused to let her out of her
contract, court records indicate."
Louisiana's home elevation program is plagued with problems
related to slow payment by the state agency, according to the
paper: "The largest contractor in the home-elevation effort,
Orleans Shoring, has filed at least 230 liens in Orleans Parish
alone since September 2010. In addition, Orleans has filed
several breach-of-contract lawsuits against homeowners."
Coastal Shoring has faced a range of difficulties in the
elevation effort. Last year, OSHA cited the firm for a serious
violation in the death of a worker who was crushed when a house
being lifted collapsed
("
OSHA issues 'serious violation' against Coastal Shoring for
worker's death in April," by David Hammer).
And the Louisiana State Contractors Licensing Board placed
Coastal Shoring on probation &euro;”
along with six other New Orleans-area house-raising companies
&euro;” in fall of 2011 after a rash of
complaints from homeowners, the Times-Picayune reported
("
7 home-elevation firms placed on probation," by Jan
Moller). Numerous firms entered the market with aggressive
promotions as the state-run home elevation program picked up
steam, the paper reported: "The $750 million hazard mitigation
program, financed with federal dollars but run by the state,
gives grants to qualified homeowners that they can use to
elevate or storm-proof their homes. It languished for years
before receiving a jump-start from the Jindal administration,
which changed the rules to make it more attractive to
contractors. The changes sparked a home-elevation boom that in
turn brought a flood of consumer complaints as new, untested
companies entered the field and the competition for customers
became fierce."
And in a peculiar twist, Coastal Shoring employees removed a
Sheriff's Office anti-crime surveillance camera, the
Times-Picayune reported, because they suspected that the
camera had been placed by a competitor in order to spy on their
operations
("
Shrewsbury firm removes crime camera after mistaking it for
competitor spy cam," by Michelle Hunter).
Reports the paper: "Detectives stopped by the office and
spoke with a man who identified himself as Coastal Shoring's
'legal advisor,' the incident report said. He admitted that an
employee had cut down the camera, but did so because they
thought it was tapping into the company's phone and power
lines. The advisor also said Coastal Shoring officials thought
the camera might have been put there by a competitor to watch
the business, the report said.'"